Recently there are two articles on “Tiger Moms” and “Kiasu (translated as “overly afraid of losing”) Parents” in Singapore. Interesting to read.

Parents in Singapore are indeed at a dilemma, overly pushing their child will lead to negative consequences (as mentioned in the articles), but not pushing their child may lead to falling behind academically.

This quote sums it up:

A housewife, who wanted to be known only as Mrs Lim, 43, said: “In Singapore, the pressure to do well starts early. Parents have no choice but to set high expectations of their kids’ performance.

“But I will be more mindful of the way I speak to my kids, so that they won’t feel bad about making mistakes in their work.”

Children with pushy parents are at a much higher risk of developing depression or anxiety symptoms, according to a local university study. The findings, according to researchers, are especially relevant to a society like Singapore’s, in which there is an emphasis on academic excellence.

Said the study’s head, Assistant Professor Ryan Hong: “Parents may set unrealistically high expectations for their children.

“As a result, a sizeable segment of children may become fearful of making mistakes.”

SINGAPORE – Children with intrusive parents may become overly critical of themselves, and such tendencies – at high or increased levels – are reportedly linked to depression or anxiety.

Parents who have high expectations of their children’s academic performance may urge them to achieve good grades or over-react when they make mistakes, but such actions may lead to unintended consequences, a National University of Singapore (NUS) study has found.

The five-year study, conducted by researchers from the department of psychology at NUS, examined how maladaptive perfectionism – commonly known as the “bad” form of perfectionism – develops in primary school children in Singapore.

Students from families with little interest in math benefit more from a school intervention program that aims at increasing math motivation than do students whose parents regard math as important. A study indicates the intervention program has a "Robin Hood effect" which reduces the "motivational gap" between students from different famil […]

A guest post by Beth Burroughs, Montana State UniversityYou might have noticed a recent flurry of activity by mathematicians engaged in discussions about the teaching of mathematics. A few examples:The Common Vision project is a joint effort of five organizations in the mathematical sciences (AMATYC, AMS, ASA, MAA and SIAM) focused on modernizing undergradua […]